[DylanBerg]

I need help choosing which car to buy.
I am considering:

E46 M3 ~ $16,000
E46 330i ZHP ~ $12,000
E30 318is ~ $6,000
Subaru BRZ ~ $23,000
All Manuals

I am a 21 year old Mechanical Engineering student and a BMW enthusiast. I have been contemplating which car to buy and all have there pros and cons.
E30's are cheap but are high mileage, get good gas mileage and are easy to drive.
E46 M3 is race car, ITB's, LSD, Iron Block, 8,000 redline, and also has folding rear seats.
E46 330i are less expensive, average maintenance cost, and still very good car on the street. I don't want the 330Ci (I already had one).
Subaru BRZ has a cheap interior, non functional rear seat, but it has a LSD and a warranty.


I need input and suggestions on what to do. Also how bad is the maintenance cost on E46 M3's and E30 318is?
Thanks

[Billup]

Well what I can tell you is that maintenance on a vehicle for a student is not going to look good in a BMW. BRZ would likely be much cheaper if I had to take a wild guess out of the blue.

If you were in fact a mechanical engineer already, it might not be an issue, but let me tell you that one service I had done on my little 128 was $1,300. And oil change is about $90 if I do it on my own.

I think from a maintenance perspective a BRZ would probably be a better choice. However, you never really stated how much you will be able to handle if a severe maintenance issue came up.

[ShocknAwe]

What about an E36 M3? If you already had a 330, I'd skip the non-M E46.

BRZ is not a BMW... also highly impractical, no power, and really, well cheap feeling except for how it handles. It's also the most expensive on your list. $6000 more than the E46M3. Save that money for repair bills on things you can't wrench yourself and it won't matter that the BRZ has a warranty.

[Lucky13]

The problem with getting a $16K E46 M3 is your talking 100k plus miles. I've searched a lot of used E46 M3's on line and most have had 5-8 owners so you could be getting a piece of crap. If you could find one that's 1-2 owners that had good service records I'd buy that. It would take a lot of searching but occasionally strange things pop up at dealers. Summer of 2011 my local dealer got a 2000 528 with 24,000 miles on it on a trade. I bought it the day it was posted on line for $11K drove it 3 years and just sold it for $6,500. Never had a single problem with it but I sold it with 65K on it. BMW dealers don't like to keep the old ones so they wholesale them or move them quick, they offered me $2,000 to trade it for my M235 and I sold it in two weeks for the $6,500.

[Billup]

Anything E46 is going to be either;
A. Beat to ever living hell
B. Had a million owners
C. Have a ton of miles (THEY'RE OLD)

An E30 might not be a bad option if you are not trying to spend much on a BMW, but lets all be realistic here, everything but the BRZ is going to cost a good chunk of maint. money should something go wrong that OP can't fix himself.

[DylanBerg]

Thanks for the input guys. What if I could find an E46 with around 100,000 miles though. I've also had a hard time finding any 1991 318is online. Also would the e46 M3 be unnecessary, I will be doing a little autocross and an lsd would be useful. I don't like e36 M3's that much because I've heard the North American ones aren't that great.

What do you guys think the average cost for repairs and maintenance would be for an e46 per year?

Also what is your guys input on this M3:

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/cto/4699909430.html

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by DylanBerg

I need help choosing which car to buy.
I am considering:

E46 M3 ~ $16,000
E46 330i ZHP ~ $12,000
E30 318is ~ $6,000
Subaru BRZ ~ $23,000
All Manuals

I am a 21 year old Mechanical Engineering student and a BMW enthusiast. I have been contemplating which car to buy and all have there pros and cons.
E30's are cheap but are high mileage, get good gas mileage and are easy to drive.
E46 M3 is race car, ITB's, LSD, Iron Block, 8,000 redline, and also has folding rear seats.
E46 330i are less expensive, average maintenance cost, and still very good car on the street. I don't want the 330Ci (I already had one).
Subaru BRZ has a cheap interior, non functional rear seat, but it has a LSD and a warranty.


I need input and suggestions on what to do. Also how bad is the maintenance cost on E46 M3's and E30 318is?
Thanks

Why not consider e90 330i? A great value and reliability.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by DylanBerg

I need help choosing which car to buy.

Of all those cars you mentioned, E46 ZHP would be my choice. They're quick, fairly reliable, easy to work on, parts aren't outrageous, and they still feel like a 'modern' car. ZHP would be my choice, and that's if you are prepared to take the plunge into BMW ownership while being a student.

Originally Posted by Smooth 330i

Why not consider e90 330i? A great value and reliability.

tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick....

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Of all those cars you mentioned, E46 ZHP would be my choice. They're quick, fairly reliable, easy to work on, parts aren't outrageous, and they still feel like a 'modern' car. ZHP would be my choice, and that's if you are prepared to take the plunge into BMW ownership while being a student.

tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick....

Tourettes??

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Smooth 330i

Tourettes??

No t-t-t-t-ourettes here mang!

Early N52s have a major engineering flaw in the cylinder head. If you don't have the tick problem in yours, consider yourself lucky. BMW redesigned the cylinder head sometime in 2010. As an E90 owner I'm probably telling you something you already know.

[Eat.Sleep.Race]

E46 M3 for sure, they are built very very well, other than maintenance they won't break when beating on them!

[StealYourFace]

Originally Posted by Smooth 330i

Why not consider e90 330i? A great value and reliability.

+1

I have 152,000 miles on mine. After all these years still a very pleasurable car to drive whether to work in the morning or to the track. Fantastic efficient car.

I still like the looks of an e46 330i ZHP better, but the e90 is a bit less to maintain. Less frequent front end rebuilds, much more robust cooling system ect.

[colin_e90]

persoanlly if you can diagnose problems well yourself you should not have to worry about maitenance costs. also i noticed you are from san diego. im from there as well just recently moved to maui but stay away from the stealership for labor costs. they cost a damn arm and a leg especially for m cars. but if you have an indy mech do your maitnenance for you if it is something that you cannot do then you should be good to go. i got a buddy in national city who does legit good work and has done work for a few buddies of mine and some cats from 2m autowerks as well. and his rates are a bang for the buck with the good service you get from him. id say go e46 m3 since its a car that really has everything you would want out of a bmw. now if you want a sedan then of course do either e46 330i zhp or zsp e90 330i